Well moving time is here again, and I am preparing for all the fun that comes with it: transitioning jobs, insurance, mailing address, doctors, packing, unpacking, adjusting, buying a better coat, and generally trying out a new lifestyle. I don’t particularly like Chicago itself, but I like what it has to offer. It’s a mixed bag, as moving always is, but I am excited to start a new chapter with Kasey. I am excited to attend U of Illinois at Chicago, and excited to see Kasey do his grad work at Loyola U. I am excited to find a yoga class and not have to drive an hour to find a grocery store that sells gluten-free bread and almond milk.
When I say I’m not excited about the city itself, I mean - it’s so ugly! Grey and dingy and old… and compact! I feel claustrophobic as I walk down Chicago streets … I miss a place that’s spread out and sunny and colorful… aka Cali and Az. But we have so many good reasons to move there and so much to gain from living there for a while. I am sure I’ll love it once I’m there. I just long for those blue skies that stretch so far and those hot, dry summer days, and the reds, rich browns, purples, yellows, and greens of the desert. I hear that Chicago can be very beautiful – is that during the summertime? ;) No, but seriously, I can’t wait to discover the unique beauty of Chicago because I know it’s there. It’s just going to be something new.
Moving always makes me reflect on where I’ve been and where I’m going. Right now I am coming out of a phase of personal growth – learning to be married, learning to be apart from so many loved ones, learning to get along with those who don’t think like me, learning that truly trying to understand where someone is coming from is the most human and most difficult thing, and finding that I am actually ok no matter where I am. I am me, and me is home. I have learned to be at home with myself and make no apologies for what I have learned.
I feel that I’m going into a phase of professional development. Chicago is a place with lots of opportunity for involvement and networking. There are so many schools (both secondary and U) in such a small area, offering education and experience that will take me far beyond where I am now. I look forward to being in school again, and especially under the faculty at UIC’s ENG ED dept. Wow does that invigorate me! I am going to have an entirely different teaching experience than I have had so far, and serve a new kind of community. Serving a military community has become second nature to me, and inner city will present families and students with different needs, priorities, and ways of seeing. I welcome the challenge of learning the norms of a new community, but I also know how hard the transition will be. When we leave Chicago (probably for the West Coast), we’ll have become better versions of ourselves. As I believe every life experience can offer.
Maybe nothing will go as planned. Maybe we’ll end up in Virginia, or Ashville NC, or Venezuela. Who knows other than God. We are making plans and then letting it all fall as it will, because that’s the beauty of life. It comes at you, and you get to roll with it, no matter what your plans were. I am grateful for God’s love and goodness, for Kasey, for our families and all that they give us, for our incredible and unique friends, and for all the wonderful opportunities that have been made available to us – not always through our own merit.
Anybody got some extra cardboard boxes lying around?
